Display cartons



y 7, 1960 w. NEVINS 7 2,936,942

DISPLAY CARTONS Filed Aug. 28, 1957 7 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 I I I I 234 61% 25 35% (614 IN VEN TOR. MRREA/ NE v/A/s W. NEVINS DISPLAY CARTONS May 17, 1960 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 28, 1957 INVENTOR. WARREN NEV/NS A rromvsr W. NEVINS DISPLAY CARTONS May 17, 1960 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Aug. 28, 1957 llllll h mw mww Mm j IN VEN TOR. WA RREN NE V/NS BY A Tron/Er United States Patent 7 a DISPLAYCARTONS Warren Nevins, Monmouth Junction, NJ.

Application August 28, 1957, ser al No. 680,852

5 Claims. ((31. 2294s This invention relates to improved display cartons and particularly, but not necessarily exclusively, to improved cartons for fragile articles, such as eggs. The cartons herein both provide protection of the contents and permit inspection of the contents thereof without opening the carton.,,

Many research-studies have shown that consumers prefer to buy food products in packages which vdisplay 'the contents thereof. Whengiven a choice, consumers prefer. to purchase eggs, for example, packed intransparent' cartons; The reason for the preference is that transparent cartons enable the consumer to examine the eggs for size, conditio.n,- cleanliness, etc.

Previously, in the case of eggs, two avenues have been followed to provide a carton which permits the inspection of the contents thereof. One approach is to cut windows in a conventional-egg box. While this type of carton is inexpensive, it has the disadvantages that only a small portion of each egg is displayed and that, heavier materials are necessary to strengthen the carton. Another approach is to provide an egg box of transparent plastic.

of approach 7 In this case, the entire egg is displayed, but the carton is not sturdy enough to adequately protect the eggs and is relatively expensive.

An object of this invention is to provide animproved display, carton.

A further object is which adequately protects the eggs therein, while permitting inspection of the contents without opening the carton.

In general,"a display carton of the invention comprises two upper and two lower walls arranged in a substantially unitary X-shaped configuration, each pair of an upper and a lower wall having opposedvopenings therein adapted to hold articles therebetween in compression, and means maintaining a compressive force'between'each pair of an .upper and a lower wall when an article resides therebetween.

' The display carton of the invention is preferably, made of-asingle piece cardboard or other blank material and comprisesgenerally a lower rectangular base, two lower inclined walls each attached to one of thellongitudinal edges of said lower base and. converging upwardly'with respecbto each other, an upper rectangular base, two vupper inclined walls each attached to-one of the. longi- ;tudinal edges of said. upper base and converging downwardly with res'pectto each other, means holding together the upper edges of said two lower walls and the lower edges of said two upper walls to form a substantially unitary X-shapedstructure. Each set of said upper and lower Walls having opposed openings therein adapted to hold articles therebetween in compression; and saidupper and lower bases having openings therein permitting inspection off articles held between saidwalls. p

, arti l e to be displayed, such as an egg, is placed in the opposed openings between an upper wall and a lower wall and are held therebetween by positive compressive force acting on the article. "Unlike previous cartons which merely provide a cradle for each article, the cartons to provide improved egg cartons 2 herein hold each article in compression preventing movement of the articles. After the carton is filled with the desired-articles, the carton may be wrapped in cellophane or other transparent sheet material. The wrapped assem bly provides a complete display of the contents and still maintains adequate protection for the contents.

Further improvements are provided to display cartons herein by providing (1) transverse members in the bases, (2) transversepartitionsbetween theupper walls, and/ or the lower walls ,;which aid in maintaining a uniform compressive"f orce on .each article held in the carton, and (3) auxiliary flaps attached to or integral with the lower base which contact the articles preventing rotation thereof. v

The foregoing objects and other advantages are more fully explained in the following detailed description when read in conjunction withthe drawings in which:

Figure l is a partially sectional front elevational view of a carton ofth'e; invention viewed along lines Figure3," z

Figure 2 is a Figure 1, v v

Figure 3 is a plan view of the carton of Figure 1, and

side elevational'view of the carton of Figure 4 a plan view of the punched blank used to prepare the carton ofFigure 1. W

Similar reference charactersare usedfor similar structures throughout the drawing. v

Referring to Figures 1 to 4, the display carton herein may be prepared'from a single sheet of punched or die cutfblank material 21 such as cardboard, as shown in Figure 4. Thejcartons herein may also be prepared from several pieces. The punched sheet 21 is folded to form a closed XY-shaped configuration.

More specifically, the punched blank material is folded to form a lower rectangularv base 23; a lower left inclined wall 25 integral with the left longitudinal edge "23a of said lower base 23; a lower right inclined wall 27 integral with the right longitudinal edge 23b of said lower base 23, said with the upper longitudinaledge 31a of said upper right wall 31 and 'substantially parallel to said lower base 23; an upper left wall integral with the left longitudinal edge 33a of said upper base 33, said upper left and right walls 29 and 31 converging downwardly with respect to one another to form an X-shaped structure.

Means are provided for holding the lower longitudinal edges of the upper walls 29 and 31 and the upper longitudinal wallsfof thelower walls 25' and 27' together. Such holding means may beflaps 'and staples placed at convenient intervals along the length or the edges 25a and 27a. A preferred holding means comprises a set of flaps punched in the upper and lower bases 23 and 33 ings, upper end flaps 41a to 41d punched in the-upper ,base 33 are folded downwardly to a position at about right angles to the upper base 33, engaging the upper left and upper rightwalls 29 and 31 in recesses 45a to 45d thereofrespectively and'also engaging the lower left and lower right walls 25 and 27in recessest39a, 39g, 39h and 39 therein respectively. Upper center flaps 43a to 43d punched in the upper base 33 are folded downwardly to a position at about right angles to the upper base 33 engaging-the upper right'and upper left walls 29 and 31 in slots 47a" to 47b therein respectively. Lower end flaps 35afand 35b and lower center flaps 37a to 37:1 punched in the lower base 23 are folded upwardly to a position atabout right angles to the lower base 23 engaging the 'lower leftand lower right walls 25 and 27 in recesses Patented May 17,1960

right walls 29 and 3; l, upper and "lower flaps engaged with the upper and lower walls provide rigidity and unityto the structure. i V

The carton is symmetrical about a vertical axis 99 as shown in Figure l. The description which follows will be with respect to the sect-ion to the right of the axis 99. It will he understood that a corresponding left section is also provided which is a mirror image of the right section. may reverse the positions of right and left to produce a mirror image carton of the carton of the example.

Opposed portions of the upper and lower right walls have opposed openings therein, each pair adapted to hold a fragile article 53a, such as an egg, therebetween i omr es a s sh w- 1 i e drawings, re a ix p rs o penings o holdi x a ic bne h side of the carton. The carton rn ay be designed'lto hold more or less than this number. The lower right wall 27 has lower right openings 49;: to 49 The upper right wall 31 has upper right openings 51a 1to51f opppsite the lower right openings 494 to 49 respectively. V

A typical article 53a is pressed intofa pair of opposed openings and is held there by compression from the walls 27 and 31. The carton herein, while being a rigid, unitary structure is nevertheless resilient because the novel design herein is aidedby the nature of the material of which it is made. Fragile articles may thereby be slipped in or pulled out from theside of the carton with ease, and still be held firmly in place when the article resides in the carton.

To further strengthen the carton without affecting the resiliency, it may be desirable to provide transverse members in the upper and lower bases. To this end, the lower base 23 is provided with transverse members 57a, 57b and 570 integral therewith. Upper base 33 is provided with transverse members 59a, 59b and 59s integral therewith. i i

Where the filled or partially filled carton i s subject'to vibration, an unsymmetrical article frequently rotates in its position in the carton. To reduce this tendency, it may be desirable to provide an auxiliary flap which applies additional pressure to the article to prevent rotation. The auxiliary flap may be made integral with one of the sections of the carton, such as the lower base 23. As shown in the drawingsfan auxiliary flap 61a comprises a folded strip of cardboard stapled at convenient intervals 63 to the, lower base 23, extending up.-

wardly at about ri ht an les to the ower base 23, and s 37;; to 37d. When bearing against lower center ll 7 i, a article is p s d n oihfe arom ear ic e presses against the auxiliary flap 61a. The auxiliary flap- 61d is'held in pressure contact with the article and the lower center flaps due to the resiliency of the auxiliary flap material.

After assembly, the display carton herein may be loaded from the sideveither mechanically or by hand. Following loading, the carton is preferably wrapped in a transparent web material such as cellophane and sealed. Such wrapping, while not necessary, nevertheless aids in maintaining compression upon the articles in the carton.

The display cartons herein haveat least the following advantages:

(1) They are low in cost vbecause the nature of their rigid construction permits the use of lighter punched or die cut blank material than conventional cartons.

(2) They permit easy loading'and unloading from the side without the need of opening and closing a cover. Further, the loading operation is easily and simply mechanized.

(3) They permit complete. inspection of their contents it u op in or unwra ping the ca to (4) They hold each article in compression preventing haki an a t n n t ca on e by a oid n ama due o ibra on and hey may e tacke Que upon he other Further, throughout this specification one i 1 4 out dam-age to the contents therein, since the articles are cushioned on all sides preventing damage due to pressure on top and sides. Further, the articles themselves contribute in part to the strength of the loaded carton.

7 What is claimed is:

I. A display carton comprising two upper and two lower longitudinal walls arranged in a substantially unitary X shaped configuration, each pair of an upper and a lower wall having opposed openings therein adapted to hold articles therebetween in compression, and transverse walls locked into said two upper and two lower longitudinal walls between adjacent opposed openings for maintaining a compressive force between each pair of an upper and a lower wall when an article resides therebetween. a r

2. The carton of claim 1 including a Wrapping of transparent material around the entire carton.

3. A display carton comprising a lower rectangular s t owe inc ine long din l w lls e ch a he to on o he l n tud n d es of sai o e se and con e g ng p y ith re pec to e ch he an p per rectangular base, two upper inclined longitudinal walls each attached to one of the longitudinal edges of said upper base and converging downwardly with respect to each other, means holding together said two lo er walls a s o upper alls to fo m a .Sllb? stantially unitary structure; each set of said upper and said lower Walls having opposed openings therein adapted to hold articles therebetween in compression; and transverse walls locked into said two upper and two lower longitudinal walls between adjacent opposed openings for maintaining "a compressive force between each pair of an upper and a l wer all hen an rtic e resides therebetween,

4- An egg cart n co pr sin a lower ectang l r base, a right lower inclined wall integral with the right longitudin l e of s i lower as a left l wer in l ned w ll integ al th e left ngit d al edge f said lower base, said right and left walls converging upwardly in respect to one another, a right upper inclined wall integral with the upper longitudinal edge of said right lower inclined wall, an upp'er'rectangular base integral with the upper longitudinal edge of said right upper inclined wall, a left'upper inclined wall integral with the left longitudinal edge of said upper base, said right and left upper walls converging downwardly with respect to e h h mean ma ntaining sa d uppe longitud n dg f i lower left inclined 'w ll wi h th we l0flgiidinal dge'of aid uppe le t in lowe base av n ower llapf punehedthere. t, 93 1 9: lv o lo in sa d ght an lef w we 1 tions', said upper b se having flaps punched therein and folded downwardly to lock into said right and left up: per wall sections, opposed portions of upper and lower right walls having openings therein adapted to hold eggs therebetween in compression, opposedportions of said upper and lower left walls having openings therein adapted to hold eggs therebetween in compression, a first auxiliary flap attached to said lower base and extend ing upwardly therefrom to provide a pressure contact to eggs held between said upper and lower right wall sections and a second auxiliary flap attached to said lower base and extending upwardly therefrom to provide a pressure contact te' g held between said upper and lower left wall sections. a

5. An egg carton characterized by permitting eggs contained therein to be substantially completely viewable without unloading comprising two upper and two lower longitudinal walls arranged in a substantially X shaped configuration each pair of an upper and lower wall having opposed openings therein adapted to hold'eggs therebetween in compression with the long axis of; each egg normally in a substantially vertical position; and substantially vertical transverse walls between adjacent op: Pose enings q s ss Pa @99 was 5 and each pair of lower walls for maintaining a com- 1,144,674 pressive force on eggs held therebetween. 2,087,773 2,451,806 References Cited in the file of this patent 2, 75,1 1 I UNITED STATES PATENTS 5 1,158,916 Goldsmith -1" Nov. z, 1915 83,953

Willis June 29, 1915 Levine June 20, 1937 Carson Oct. 19, 1948 Buttery Apr. 13, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS Netherlands Jan. 15, 1957 

